oggy
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Location: Central Vermont

How to tell when an alpine strawberry is ripe?

I have a lot of alpine strawberries bearing fruit now. They're very fragrant and smell absolutely delicious. However when I picked two off my largest plant, they had very little taste at all and were white on the inside.

How can I tell when they're ripe? Do the seeds turn from red to green/brown?
These strawberries are quite large. Here's a picture of one of the two I picked off.
Image

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Lindsaylew82
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Location: Upstate, SC

The seeds will stay red.

Have you had a lot of rain lately? Lots of water can make them have an insipid blah flavor.

We had a large patch of yellow and red Alpine Strawberries when we lived in PA. I've not smelled strawberries as wonderful as they smelled since. And the flavor....gah. I miss that patch! Too much rain or watering made them bland, although it didn't affect the aroma.

I just love alpines!

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Lindsaylew82
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They like to run, too. They don't make runners like other strawberries, the grow underground runner roots that produce new crowns. Pots inhibit that growth, unless you have them in a barrel or something REALLY wide mouthed. Alpines produce many more berries if they can run. The plants we had gave at least a pound per season, and then some, per plant! But they had LOTS of room to grow!

The older crowns produce larger berries, like the ones I'm your picture. :()

valley
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Location: ranches in sierra nevada mountains California & Navada high desert

They pull off pretty easy when they're ripe. Then, if when you place it in you mouth, momentarily close you're eyes, then break into a smile and utter a three syllable moan............it's ripe!



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